(201) Magazine Blogs

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Jets to hold training camp in Florham Park

The Jets announced today they will hold their 2015 training camp at their facility in Florham Park. They had held camp in Cortland, N.Y. in five of the past six years. But that was during the Rex Ryan regime. They last held camp in Florham Park in 2011 after the NFL lockout that season.
This will be the first camp directed by new head coach Todd Bowles.
“SUNY Cortland felt like home because of the tremendous local support we received during our time there,” owner Woody Johnson said in a statement. “President Erik Bitterbaum and the university staff, as well as the families and businesses of Central New York, all went above and beyond to embrace our organization and create a comfortable environment for our team and fans. They always will be a part of our Jets family.”
“We are very grateful for the outstanding support of our fans in Cortland and to fans who made and enjoyed trips to the area,” said team president Neil Glat. “Our hope is that our training in Florham Park will allow additional fans to experience the fun and excitement of a Jets training camp this year.”
Dates and times will be announced later. The Jets looked into holding training camp on Long Island, according to a source, but it didn’t work out.
This decision certainly will make it easier for local fans to see training camp. Attendance had dwindled the last two years in Cortland after spiking during the Tim Tebow summer of 2012.

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Jets sign OT Hilliard, DL Bowen, Vickerson

The Jets signed unrestricted free agent tackle Corey Hilliard, who has appeared in 47 games in parts of six NFL seasons for Indianapolis and Detroit.
The 6-foot-6, 300-pound Hilliard was drafted by New England out of Oklahoma State in the sixth round in 2007, but never played for the Patriots, who waived him at the end of the 2007 preseason. He was picked up by the Colts and appeared in five games with them in 2007-08.
He started 12 games and played in 42 for Detroit from 2010-14, but was placed on injured reserve in 2014 after suffering a Lisfranc foot injury in the season-opening win versus the Giants.
Hilliard, who visited the Jets’ complex in Florham Park last week, mostly played right tackle for the Lions. He projects as a backup swing tackle for the Jets behind starters D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Breno Giacomini. He likely will compete for that spot with former Giant James Brewer, signed by the Jets last week. It appears likely the Jets are moving on from unrestricted free agent Ben Ijalana, who was the backup swing tackle last season.
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The Jets also signed former Washington defensive end Stephen Bowen. The 6-foot-5, 300-pound Bowen signed with Dallas in 2006 as an undrafted free agent out of Hofstra. In parts of nine NFL seasons, he has 12.5 sacks. He spent 2010-14 with the Redskins, but played in only 18 games the past two seasons because of knee problems.
The team also officially announced the signing of veteran defensive end Kevin Vickerson, who agreed to terms with them Friday. Vickerson, who has played for Tennessee, Denver and most recently Kansas City in eight NFL seasons, has played in 86 games with 44 starts and has 6.5 sacks.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Maccagnan: Osi wasn’t on official visit Wednesday

Former Giant Osi Umenyiora dropped by the Jets’ Florham Park facility Wednesday, but it was not an official visit, Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan said on a conference call today.
“I think he was in our building a whole 10 minutes,” Maccagnan said of Umenyiora, currently a free agent. “I actually didn’t even know he was here until later in the day when somebody asked me about it.”
Maccagnan indicated that Umenyiora was paying a “social” visit to head coach Todd Bowles. He indicated the Jets would evaluate Umenyiora as they would any free agent.
Maccagnan also said he doesn’t expect new quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to participate on the field this spring. He said Fitzpatrick still is rehabbing from a fractured leg that ended his 2014 season. However, the GM does expect Fitzpatrick to be ready for training camp.
So if the Jets don’t draft a quarterback, that means incumbent starter Geno Smith and Franklin Lakes’ Matt Simms will get the bulk of the snaps during OTAs and mandatory minicamp.
“I think Geno and Matt will definitely get more reps, probably, but Ryan will be involved also during the offseason program, but again, somewhat limited,” Maccagnan said.
As for potentially drafting Florida State’s Jameis Winston or Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, Maccagnan said, “I don’t think any player is either on or off our board in terms of what we would do based on our current roster.”
He said the Jets will attend Winston’s pro day. They already were at Mariota’s pro day.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Cromartie says injury problems are behind him

Cornerback Antonio Cromartie suffered through a subpar 2013 season that led to his release by the Jets. But after officially re-signing with the Jets today, Cromartie blamed his poor 2013 season on a strained hip flexor that bothered him throughout the year.
Cromartie said on a conference call today he suffered the injury during training camp and “it bothered me the entire year. ... It’s behind me” now.
He said, “Even near the end of the 2013 year, I was starting to play better, because my body was starting to feel better.”
Cromartie then signed with Arizona and had a bounceback season with the Cardinals. He said he chose the Jets over Dallas and Arizona.
“When I’m healthy, I can play at a very high level,” he said. “2013 was not a healthy year for me. ... 2014 was a healthier year for me. So that helped me out a lot, and I was just able to go out and play how I wanted to.”
Cromartie felt the Jets were a good fit for him for several reasons, including the fact that he is comfortable in new head coach Todd Bowles’ defensive system. Bowles was Arizona’s defensive coordinator last year. He also liked the fact that he and his family still have a home in New Jersey.
He said it “was an easy decision for my family, just from looking at kids in school and not moving around a lot. We consider this as being home. If we get the chance, this is a place we’d like to retire.”
He is excited about playing with former teammate Darrelle Revis and Cleveland import Buster Skrine, another free-agent signee who is penciled in as the slot corner.
Cromartie said the goal will be “to be as dominant as we can be every single game and every single play.” But he added, “At the same time, we have to gel together and learn how to play off of each other.”
Skrine also spoke to reporters on a conference call, and referred to himself as a “versatile player” and indicated he doesn’t mind playing the slot.
He also is excited about playing in the same secondary with Revis.
“I was hoping he would come back,” Skrine said. “Just being around him is going to help me out as a player.”

Friday, March 13, 2015

Marshall wants to finish career with Jets

Despite his abundant talent, new Jets wide receiver Brandon Marshall has been traded three times in his pro career. But he said today he wants the Jets to be his last NFL stop.
“That’s definitely the plan,” Marshall said on a conference call today, his first public comments since the Jets acquired him in a trade with Chicago on Tuesday.
He made it clear he doesn’t want to be a “rental” or a “one-hit wonder,” as he termed it. His contract isn’t guaranteed after the 2015 season.
“I want to take this opportunity and make the best of it,” Marshall said.
Marshall has been an outspoken proponent of better awareness and funding for mental health issues because he is afflicted with borderline personality disorder. He believes that is the reason why he has had some behavior issues during his career.
“It’s a personality issue,” he saidm “not a character issue.”
As for football, he indicated he is excited about the Jets’ potential and looks forward to working with quarterbacks Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick, acquired in a trade with Houston this week. Marshall said he and Smith will work out together soon but also said he expects there to be competition between Smith and Fitzpatrick for the starting spot.
He praised new head coach Todd Bowles and new offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, He called Bowles a “man’s man” and a “leader” and said that “everybody eats” in Gailey’s offensive system, meaning there are touches for all the skill-position players.
He didn’t say whether he would continue his role as one of the hosts of Showtime’s “Inside the NFL” program.
“It’s only a 30-minute ride to Showtime [in a Manhattan studio] if we choose to do that again,” he said. The show is taped on Tuesdays and Marshall had to fly in from Chicago every week to do the show last year.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

Jets agree to terms with Cromartie

The Jets are recreating the secondary from their last playoff appearance, at least the starting outside cornerbacks.
They have agreed to terms with free agent Antonio Cromartie on a four-year deal, pending a physical, according to a source. The contract reportedly is for $8 million a year and comes one day after the team re-signed superstar Darrelle Revis. Cromartie played for the Jets from 2010-13 and had 13 interceptions during that span.
Cromartie, who will be 31 next month, played alongside Revis from 2010 until the third game of the 2012 season, when Revis suffered a torn knee ligament that ended his first tour of duty with the Jets. Cromartie, at that time, took over the role of the No. 1 cornerback and had an excellent season.
He had a subpar, injury-plagued 2013 campaign and was let go by the Jets. He landed with the Cardinals, whose defensive coordinator at that time was current Jets head coach Todd Bowles. Cromartie, who reportedly chose the Jets over Dallas, had three interceptions and 10 passes defensed last season.
The Jets also signed former Cleveland cornerback Buster Skrine this week. Cromartie’s acquisition likely means that Skrine will play as the nickel back and slot corner, with Revis and Cromartie as the starting outside cornerbacks.

Colon staying with Jets

The Jets re-signed veteran right guard Willie Colon today. It’s a one-year deal for the veteran minimum of $870,000.
Colon has played for the Jets the last two seasons, starting every game at right guard. The Jets allowed him to hit the free-agent market Tuesday before signing him.
The Jets signed Seattle guard James Carpenter to a four-year deal for $19.1 million Wednesday, and it seems likely he will play left guard this season. Signing Carpenter and re-upping Colon apparently means the Jets aren’t sold on Brian Winters and Oday Aboushi, both of whom started at left guard last season. Both were drafted in 2013.

Revis talks about his return

Some soundbites from former and now current Jet Darrelle Revis, who officially began his second tour of duty in green and white by signing on the dotted line late Wednesday night. The Patriots declined Revis’ $20 million club option for 2015, and he then re-signed with the Jets as a free agent, getting a $70 million deal over five years, with $39 million guaranteed. He spoke about his homecoming on a conference call:

On his return: “It’s pretty surreal, but at the same time, it’s exciting. All that I’ve went through, and the history that I have with this organization, it’s just great. They accepted me back with open arms. We’ve been through a lot.”

Why he came back: “It was a no-brainer to come back here, because I know the organization. I have a lot of history here. I’ve just got a lot of ties here. This is where my heart is.”

On his goal to win another championship, this time with the Jets: “That was probably one of the big reasons to really come back home, because I still have that mindset.”

On the Jets-Pats rivalry “I was on both sides of the fence with that experience. I’ve been on both sides and now I’m back in the green and white. ... My experiences on both sides of the fence, they’ve been awesome and they will continue to be awesome when I get to play against [the Patriots] twice a year again.”
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On trying to recruit former teammate Antonio Cromartie, a free agent, to follow suit and return to the Jets: “I’m going to get in contact with him very soon here, and try to convince him to hopefully come back and join our Batman-and-Robin tandem we had a couple of years ago.”

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Some thoughts on the Revis reunion

Funny how things work sometimes. John Idzik was the man who traded away Darrelle Revis in April 2013. And it’s largely because of Idzik that Revis now is back with the Jets.
Idzik’s frugal ways over the last two years left the Jets plenty of cap room, making it possible for them to re-sign Revis without decimating their financial future. The Jets gave the superstar shutdown corner $70 million over five years, including $39 million guaranteed, according to a source. Revis will be paid $48 million in the first three years of the new contract.
Certainly it’s a win-win and more than a potential coup for the Jets, who improved their own defense immensely and weakened defending Super Bowl champ New England’s in the process.
Revis, a six-time Pro Bowl selection, returned to his previous form last season with the Patriots, two years after a devastating knee injury that cut short his 2012 campaign, his final one in his first tour of duty as a Jet. His return to the Jets will be yet another fascinating chapter in the ongoing rivalry between the two AFC East franchises.
But keep this in mind—quarterbacks, not cornerbacks, win championships in the NFL, Malcolm Butler’s incredible game-saving play in the Super Bowl notwithstanding. Revis’ return will make it tougher for opponents to score on the Jets, and he will fit perfectly with the blitz-happy style of new head coach Todd Bowles. But the Jets still need much better QB play to make serious noise in 2015. That still must be addressed, whether it’s receiving improvement on the part of Geno Smith, drafting Marcus Mariota, or finding a veteran signalcaller.

Source: Jets to sign Cleveland CB Skrine

The Jets still are pursuing old friend Darrelle Revis, but in the meantime, they are about to add a cornerback via free agency. They have agreed to terms with former Cleveland starter Buster Skrine to a four-year, $25 million deal, which includes $13 million in guaranteed money, according to a source.
Skrine (pronounced screen), who will turn 26 next month, was a fifth-round draft choice of the Browns in 2011 out of Tennessee-Chattanooga. In four NFL seasons, he has six interceptions and 49 passes defensed. He started all 16 games in 2014 and had a career-high four picks.
Skrine had issues with penalties last season, however. He was flagged 15 times, with 11 of those infractions accepted.
As for Revis, the superstar corner and former Jet officially became a free agent at 4 p.m. when New England declined to pick up his $20 million option for 2015. The Patriots were unable to reach a new deal with him before that 4 o’clock deadline, so he is free to negotiate and sign with any team. The Jets are highly interested in a reunion.

About

J.P. PELZMAN joined The Record in April 1998. He began his career at the Ocean County Observer in Toms River, where he spent one year before leaving for Newsday on Long Island. At The Record, he was the primary backup on the New York Jets’ beat for nine seasons, from 1998-2006, before becoming the beat writer in 2007. Pelzman also has been The Record’s beat writer for Seton Hall men’s basketball since the 2002-03 season.